KL authorities raid pro-opposition publisher

KL authorities raid pro-opposition publisher

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysian authorities raided the newsroom of a pro-opposition publishing firm and confiscated hundreds of copies of a tabloid that the government has declared illegal, an editor said on Monday.

About 13 officials of the Home Affairs Ministry entered the headquarters of Pemuda Publications with a search warrant on Friday and took 640 copies of the Malay-language Islah newspaper, Ahmad Lutfi Othman said.

Ahmad Lutfi claimed that authorities were upset by the newspaper's coverage of an ongoing feud between the federal government and opposition leaders over payment of oil royalties worth millions of dollars to an opposition-ruled state.

Nazarul Mustafa, a senior enforcement official with the Home Affairs Ministry, confirmed that the raid took place but declined to elaborate.

Another ministry spokesman, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Islah was illegal because Pemuda Publications did not obtain a permit to print it.

At least 100,000 copies of Islah's first issue hit newsstands three weeks ago, Ahmad Lutfi said. He had planned to gauge the public's response to the 24-page publication before coming out with subsequent issues.

The editor admitted that Islah, which means "reform" in Arabic, did not have a printing permit. He claimed this was not necessary for newspapers which had no regular publishing schedule.

The opposition accuses authorities of trying to curb press freedoms through the Printing Presses and Publications Act, which requires publishers to obtain annual permits from the government.

Islah is Ahmad Lutfi's third publication to fall under the government ax recently. Authorities have banned his pro-reform monthly magazines, Detik and Al-Wasilah, for allegedly flouting technical conditions in their printing contracts.

The editor has also been charged for publishing another newspaper earlier this year without a printing permit. He faces up to three years in prison and a fine if found guilty. The trial starts Nov. 22.